The design concept captures the building’s rich history. Before settling as a cinema, it served as a convent, school and laboratory. Studio Modijefsky wove these historical layers into a timeless visual language with expressive shapes, warm colors and materials that incorporate and evoke echoes of the past.

From the convent the iconic motifs are: the cloister (the secluded walkways that nuns use for meditations); the wimples (the head covering nuns wear); and the habits, the nuns’ clothing.

The school’s presence is felt in the corridors, with tiled walls, windows looking into classrooms, bulletin boards and class benches.

Chemistry sets represent the laboratory in the shape of test tube and their holders, and protective glass screens.

Finally, for the cinema, Studio Modijefsky evokes the old-school glamour of the silver screen with curtains, luxurious drapery and spotlights.

▼修道院内标志性的回廊，corridor©Maarten Willemstein

为了巩固 De Witt 在这一社区中的地位，由 Modijefsky 事务所设计的颜色图案致敬了‘Dordtse kleuren’，这是该城市的官方色调，来源于 Dordrecht 市的历史建筑。由于 Dordrecht 是荷兰第一个采用官方色调的城市，这进一步象征着市民的自豪感。它标志着 De Witt 成为 Dordrecht 的标志性建筑，植根于过去，在未来的岁月里将为每个人带来愉悦，向整个城市开放，无论是看电影、品美食还是喝咖啡。

To firmly root De Witt in its community, the colour palette developed by Studio Modijefsky adheres to the ‘Dordtse kleuren’. This is the city’s official colour palette, based on Dordrecht’s historic buildings. As Dordrecht was the first city in the Netherlands to adopt its own palette, it’s a further symbol of civic pride. It marks De Witt out as a Dordrecht icon, rooted in the past, that will offer everyone pleasure for years to come, open to the whole city, whether for a film, food or a coffee.

▼从室内望向室外，from interior to outdoor©Maarten Willemstein

主入口 Grand Entrance

当 De Witt 还是作为 The Movies 电影院时，建筑有两个入口。改造后游客们通过 Lugten Malschaert 建筑事务所设计的新主入口进入。旧立面被取代，露出旧窗户，并为新窗口留出通道，让自然光通过令人惊叹的落地玻璃幕墙洒满室内。

In De Witt’s old guise as The Movies, there were two entrances to the building. Now visitors are routed through a new main entrance designed by Lugten Malschaert Architects. The old façade was broken through to uncover old windows and create access to new ones, allowing natural light to fill the interior via the stunning floor to ceiling glass façade.

▼新入口，new entrance

©Maarten Willemstein